PROTECT THE BOBCATS
What are bobcats?
Where do they live?
What do they eat?
How do they behave?
How to identify a bobcat
Bobcats are small wild cats named for their bobbed, shortened, tails, however their tails can be around six inches long. They weigh from 15-18 pounds (about the size of a small dog) and many people tend to mistake them for domesticated cats or the cub of a mountain lion. Their fur is light brown with darker brown spots and markings.
Bobcats are found from southern Canada, throughout most of the U.S. (excluding some parts of the east coast), and down through northern Mexico. They can live in a variety of clmate zones, from woody forests to swamps and even urban cities. Their adaptility to different areas has helped them survive deforestation, though loss of land and resources is still a very big issue for their species.
Bobcats are carnivores that eat smaller prey animals like mice, squirrels, rabbits, small birds, and even reptiles. Although it is unusual for them to hunt deer, they are known to eat them if the deer (or any similar animal) is found dead in the woods or by a road.
Bobcats are nocturnal animals. They are most active at dawn and dusk but no matter the time of day, they are a very reclusive species. Bobcats will find a "homerange" of about 1 1/2 to 3 square miles (about the size of 1,000 football fields) to set up a den, their home, and to hunt in. Typically this will be near a source of water and somewhere far away from areas that humans frequent.
A bobcat's pawprint is very small. On average they are about 2 inches in width and have a length of 1 1/2 inches. This is slightly larger than a house cat's but smaller than a dog's (or coyote's and mountain lion's) tracks. The paw will have 2 lobes on the top and three on the bottom. There will be no presence of claw marks.
